A Rose Between Two Thorns II
by This-is-my-designx
Summary: Sequel to A Rose Between Two Thorns. After being killed by Klaus, Ava finds herself stuck in the world she had been living in, unable to make contact with any of the living and incapable of moving on. Can she push her way over and seek revenge on Klaus?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Ok, new story. Sequel to A Rose Between Two Thorns. I will be changing the names of the Originals to the ones in the show, but I'll do a key to stop any confusion. Because we only know two other of the Originals names right now:**

**Leda - Esther (the Original mother)**

**Aurelia - Rebekah**

**Ava's POV:**

I gasped for breath, my hands going straight to my chest. It felt a little like emerging from under water. There was no pain and my heart seemed to be intact. A wave of relief washed through me, Klaus had spared me. He hadn't ripped my heart from my chest. Perhaps he'd compelled me to believe that was what had happened, perhaps the whole thing had happened inside my head.

But then…why were they fighting?

"She trusted you!" growled Elijah, forcing Klaus against a tree.

Klaus laughed. "Her mistake." he released himself from Elijah's grip easily, but took a branch from the ground and forced it through Elijah's stomach for his trouble.

I cleared my throat, announcing my presence. Neither of them of them even looked my way.

"Hello?" I said, raising my voice a little. They didn't seem to hear me. I stood up, thinking that this would draw their attention away from trying to pull each other limb from limb.

"Oh no," I heard a quiet voice say from behind me. I turned to find Rebekah gazing down at something on the ground. My gaze followed hers an-

Oh.

It was me.

My eyes were open and unseeing. Dead. What I presumed to be my heart was lay a few feet away. So it hadn't been happening inside my head.

I knelt down beside my body in fascinated horror. My hair was splayed out behind me, still sopping wet from the rain that must have stopped somewhere between the time I died and woke up as a ghost. My expression was relaxed, funnily enough. I didn't remember being so relaxed during the moments leading up to my death.

I glanced over at Klaus. My blood was on his hands, literally and metaphorically. Bastard. He had Elijah pinned to the same tree that Elijah had forced him up against. He was forcing the branch deeper into his stomach. I winced. He was in pain - Elijah, I mean - and I didn't like it. I got up and attempted to snatch the branch from Klaus' grip but my hand went straight through it. Well, wasn't that just frustratingly inconvenient?

Rebekah forced herself between them and pulled the branch from Elijah's stomach.

"What is wrong with you?" she exclaimed, glaring at Klaus as she threw the branch to the ground. "Get out of here."

Klaus didn't need telling twice. Without so much as a glance in my direction - or, the direction of my body - he left. Charming.

Elijah, on the other hand, his wound healed, knelt down beside me. He brushed my hair from my face and closed my eyes. I could have been sleeping. He placed one hand under my knees and the other under my neck and pulled me up with him as he stood up. His face was devoid of any emotion, but when he spoke his voice was full of every kind of pain imaginable. It almost tore my heart out all over again.

"That's the second time he's killed her."

"I'm sorry." Rebekah murmured.

"I'll return the favour, even if it's the last thing I do."

"Is she really worth it?"

Oh, wow, thanks for that. First I get my heart ripped out, now I'm worthless. Worst day ever.

I watched as they retreated back to the house, my body still cradled in Elijah's arms. I was numb. It didn't seem real. How could it be real? I was here and yet I was there…dead. It had to be a dream.

I know it's not a dream. The pain was too intense, too real for it to be a dream. After a few painfully long moments within which I did nothing but watch Elijah and Rebekah walk across the field, I started to run after them. If I was still here, perhaps there was some way I could make them hear me. Perhaps I could push myself over into their world.

"Elijah!" I shouted as soon as I caught up with them.

Nothing.

"Elijah!" I cried, louder this time. "I'm here! I'm still here!"

Again, nothing.

"Eli-Rebekah!" I yelled, changing track mid-sentence. "Rebekah!"

She didn't even flinch. I made to push her but my hands made contact with nothing but air.

I let out a long, drawn out scream, hoping to break some kind of sound barrier and push my way through into their world. I achieved nothing but a ringing in my ears.

Why? Why was I still here? Even hell would be preferable to being isolated and all alone in this world. Ever present but utterly non-existent at the same time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ava's POV:**

I screamed until I could scream no more, desperate to make someone hear me, and achieved nothing but a sore throat.

Being dead sucked.

Dying was one thing, but being stuck in a world where I could communicate with absolutely no one, well that was something else entirely. What was I supposed to do?

I had followed Rebekah and Elijah back up to the house, but I'd kept my distance; seeing my own lifeless body was nothing short of disturbing. I'd seen plenty of dead bodies during my time. It sort of came with the territory when you were a vampire, but to see your own dead body? It was a whole new kind of horrifying.

For days I followed Elijah around, trying everything I could think of to break through the invisible barrier that was keeping me away from his world. I watched as he sat in the room that I'd been staying in, doing nothing but sitting there. Sometimes he'd talk aloud to himself, but only when he was alone in the house. Sometimes he'd talk to me…well, not to me as such, since he didn't know I was there and listening, but I guess he was saying the stuff that he'd say if I was there. Other times he'd just sit in complete silence, wringing his hands together.

I sat down next to him purely because I liked being close to him. It still felt as though I was a million miles away, though, because he couldn't see or hear me. I didn't exist in his world.

It wasn't until a week after my death that I had any kind of breakthrough.

He was in my room again, but this time he was angry. Angry that I'd died, angry because I'd trusted Klaus and anyone who trusted Klaus paid the price, he was living proof of that and I…well, I was proof that if you trust Klaus, you wind up dead.

I was frustrated. Frustrated because I was right in front of him! I was yelling in the loudest voice I could muster and still he had no idea I was there. Suddenly, that old cliché, the one about not being able to see what's right in front of you, made a lot more sense.

In a burst of pure rage, stemming from the fact that I was completely and utterly unable to make myself heard, I screamed "I'm right here!"

At the same time, the windows on the other side of the room shattered, sending glass flying into the room.

We both stopped and stared at the now-empty window frames and the shards of glass that littered the floor. Elijah looked shocked.

Had I done that?

We both started to walk over. I walked over the glass, making my way towards the empty window frame. I expected it to crunch under my feet, but I could barely feel it beneath my shoes. I guess, since I was a ghost, I didn't really have that much of an impact…except the one I seemed to have made on the window. Had I really done that? It didn't seem likely…yet there was nothing else that could have possibly done it. The weather outside was calm and there was nothing to suggest that someone had thrown something at the window.

I turned away from the window. What if I could control things without touching them? It wasn't much…it didn't really let anyone know I was still here, but it was better than nothing. It was better than being almost non-existent.

I focused on a vase that sat on top of the dresser. I concentrated hard, thinking of nothing but the vase. I could feel all the tensions and emotions from the last week rising inside me as I tried futilely to knock the vase off the edge. I was about to give up when it tipped itself off the dresser to the floor. The smash grabbed Elijah's attention who, up until now, had been inspecting the window.

With one last glance at the window, he hurried forwards to inspect the vase which, like the window, had no way of being pushed off.

Brilliant.

**Elijah's POV:**

She's dead. It's entirely my fault. I shouldn't have used her to get to Klaus, that was foolish of me. I should have known he'd have turned it around and used her against me.

I grieved when she left back in the 1500s, but this was different. I'd known she was alive then. Alive but incredibly angry at me. It hurt knowing that my actions had resulted in her running away, but there was always the possibility that one day I'd find her again. And I did. This time she was gone. Infinitely gone. I wasn't going to run into her in Mystic Falls after 500 years apart. I wasn't ever going to run into her again.

"I'm right here!"

At the same time, the windows smashed. They shattered into a thousand shards of glass with no discernable explanation.

I walked over to the windows, the shards of glass crunching beneath my shoes as I did. It wasn't the windows that unnerved me, though. It was the voice that I'd heard just as they shattered.

It was faint and I could barely hear it…human senses definitely wouldn't have picked up on it, and the sound was somewhat marred by the shattering of the glass, but I'd heard it.

It sounded like…_her_.

It was impossible.

I ran my finger along the window sill, not even flinching when shards of glass cut into the skin. It would heal in a second or so.

I heard another smash from behind me and turned to find the vase that had been stood atop of the dresser had somehow knocked itself off to the floor. I hurried over. This wasn't an accident…it had been too far back for it to just topple over.

No…it wasn't possible. Was she…here? Right now? The voice, the window, the vase. It all made sense.

No. It was impossible. Ava's dead. Only a fool would try and convince himself that the ghost of his lost love was trying to make contact.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ava's POV:**

Whoever said that death was the next big adventure had obviously never died.

Obviously, since they wouldn't have been able to say that if they were dead. Whatever.

It's _not _an adventure. I've been dead for three weeks now and I've done nothing but wander. There's nothing else to do! I can only move objects if I'm feeling particularly strong emotions, other than that I'm unable to do anything. Except walk around and talk to myself. Excuse me for a moment whilst I try to contain my excitement.

Thanks a lot, Klaus.

* * *

><p>Elijah seemed to have gotten over my untimely (or perhaps long overdue?) death. Or maybe he's just good at hiding his emotions. I don't know. I'd ask him but…well, I can't.<p>

He was out in public today. I don't know what he was doing, I don't tend to hang around the house much, it's a little depressing, so I don't know what he's been sent out to do. Maybe he's looking for Klaus.

"Still can't see me, huh?" I asked him as we walked through the busy streets of some unknown town. Of course he couldn't, I was nothing but the imprint of a departed soul. Kind of.

I followed him around for a while, purely because it was my only source of entertainment. He seemed to be wandering around aimlessly. I do enough of that myself, so I was about to go off on my own when I heard his sharp intake of breath.

I turned, thinking for a moment that I'd somehow become visible to him, but his gaze was not focused on me, as I'd hoped, he was looking at-

Oh, wow.

There was a girl. Not just any girl, though. No. This girl looked eerily like me. It was fascinating.

I glanced at Elijah who, like I had been, was staring at the girl in utter fascination.

"No. No, no, no, don't you dare." I said as Elijah took a step towards her, still in awe.

"She is not me. You can't just replace me with her!"

Oh, brilliant. I wasn't even cold in my grave yet and here Elijah was, replacing me with some human look-a-like.

_Seriously?_

It was selfish of me, but I didn't want him to move on…not yet, especially not while I'm still here!

Urgh, talk about unfair.

I walked with him as he approached her. I didn't want to miss a moment of this.

"Excuse me," he said quietly.

She looked up from the book she'd been reading with polite curiosity. "Yes?"

"Have we met before?"

"No, you haven't, you _idiot_." I said, folding my arms.

"Uhm, no…I don't think so." she replied.

Elijah nodded. "Sorry, my mistake."

Ha, nicely played. Shy and modest. I could almost feel the curiosity coming from the girl. She was intrigued.

Elijah turned to walk away when the girl half-rose from the bench. "Wait!"

Elijah turned back to her.

"Who did you think I was?"

Elijah gave her a small smile and indicated the empty space next to her. "May I?"

"Of course. I'm Eva, by the way."

"Eva…that's a lovely name. I'm Elijah." he held out his hand.

"It's a family name," she said, taking his hand.

Funny. Eva is a variant of the name Ava. That couldn't be a coincidence.

Intrigued as I was by Eva as I was, I did _not _want to stand by and watch as Elijah fell head over heels in love her, the same way he'd fallen in love with me.

* * *

><p>"Honey, you're home!" I called out sarcastically as Elijah entered the room. I was lay, facing the ceiling, on his bed.<p>

I'd never seen his room before I died. It wasn't so different from the one that I'd stayed in.

He looked happier than he had in a long while. Ever since I'd died, actually. I didn't need any clues to be able to guess why.

Pure envy began to build up inside me. I'd been dead three weeks! Weren't people supposed to spend years getting over loved ones? Hell, he'd spent 500 years looking for me after I ran off. Apparently my death wasn't having as much of an impact on him as my running away did.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ava's POV:**

So, as it turns out, there's a very strong possibility that Eva is a descendant of mine. Not really sure how that would work since I 'died' before I had the chance to produce any offspring…

But whatever.

That's not really the point.

The point is, that disgustingly nice bitch is slowly reeling Elijah in and I don't like it. Not one bit.

Yes, I'm jealous and yes it is incredibly selfish. I'm dead. I'm allowed to be selfish.

We all know what's really happening here. He's not attracted to her because she's beautifully unique or a genuinely nice person or any of that crap. He's drawn to her because she looks like me. It's not her he's attracted to it's the version of me in her.

It's almost the same as what happened with Katherine and Elena, except that Eva doesn't look exactly like me, there are subtle differences.

Her eyes are brown, whereas mine are blue. Were blue. I'm not really sure what tense I should be using, you know, because I'm dead.

Her hair is a lighter brown as well, whereas mine is/was almost black. There are other slight differences, the shape of her eyes, for example. Stuff like that. The resemblance is still striking though.

They went for coffee today. _Coffee_. Coffee has been a euphemism for sex for decades now. I tagged along, of course, since I have nothing better to do than float around listening to other people's conversations. They somehow - yeah, _somehow. _I'm pretty sure Elijah pushed the conversation in that direction on purpose - got onto the subject of family history which was fascinating. Except that it really wasn't. Elijah lied, of course. He'd probably agree with me when I say that revealing the fact that you're over 1000 years old and a vampire to someone you've known just over a week isn't the best idea. But what do I know? I'm dead.

I lied when I said it wasn't fascinating. I mean, most of it wasn't. Who cares about some great-great grandfather who used to own a bakery in the 1800s? I certainly don't.

What _was _interesting was that the official explanation for my disappearance was that I had been kidnapped and brutally murdered, allegedly. Well, that was kind of true. I was brutally murdered, a month ago.

Anyway, apparently they caught the man who allegedly killed me and had him burnt at the stake. Poor guy.

"Yeah, I think his name was Raoul."

Oh, yeah, maybe not. Raoul had fed off me and - unintentionally - turned me. Not really sorry that he's dead.

"You know an awful lot about it, it's fascinating." said Elijah with a small smile.

Oh yeah, I'm sure it is fascinating listening to a load of crap that you already know. He _lived _through it!

"My mom's a historian." she explained. "Family trees are kind of her thing."

She's so _nice_. It's despicable. I hate her. I hate her so much that, as I was sitting there, telling her that I hated her and that she was boring and nothing but a replica of me, I managed to knock over to knock her coffee over. Ha.

It went all over her pretty white dress. Good. I hope it burned.

I'm so horrible. I really need to tone it down a bit. Being dead is just so _boring. _If I could communicate with just one other person then it'd be a hundred times better.

I thought you were supposed to be reunited with loved ones when you died? Not stuck in an isolation zone.

I wonder who I'd see if I was reunited with loved ones? My parents, obviously, and my brother. My old friends, maybe, from my childhood? I don't think there'd be many people. I mean, I didn't really make a habit of forming relationships with people.

I know who _wouldn't _be there. Adeline. I hate her more I've ever hated anyone. I hope she's burning in hell.

* * *

><p>Elijah and Eva's coffee date was cut short by the fact that her white dress was now stained dark brown.<p>

Sorry about that, guys.

Not.

Immature? Me? Maybe just a little.

I wonder if I'll _ever _be able to communicate with the living. Damon told me once about some dead witch ancestor of Bonnie's who possessed her. Possessing people wouldn't be brilliant, but it was better than nothing. Unfortunately, I don't know the first thing about possessing people. I wouldn't know where to begin. Pity. I could have possessed Eva and told Elijah to get lost.

* * *

><p>When Elijah arrived home later on that night - much later than I expected, actually - I was lay on his bed, again, staring up at the ceiling.<p>

"Oh, sweetheart, you're home!" I exclaimed enthusiastically. I'd gotten into quite a habit of talking aloud to him, even if it was complete and utter nonsense. It's not like he could hear me.

"You know how I worry!"

I pushed myself up into a sitting position. "How was your _date_?" I spat out the word 'date' like it was dirt, which it was. "I do hope Eva was able to get that horrible stain out of her dress."

Elijah was silent, which wasn't surprising since, to him, the room was completely empty.

"That was you?"

"Of course it wa-"

Wait. What?


	5. Chapter 5

My eyes snapped over to where Elijah was standing, staring right at me.

Were my senses deceiving me? Had I got completely and utterly crazy after being deprived of any company aside my own?

"Can you hear me?"

"Evidently."

"Can you _see _me?"

"Yes."

I gaped. My jaw dropped and I gaped. What a breakthrough. Weeks of cold, hard, solid nothing and then BAM! I'm able to communicate again. Just like that. What the hell changed?

"I thought you were dead." Elijah said quietly, taking a few small steps closer to me.

"I am dead."

"How are you here?"

"I've always been here, you just couldn't see me."

Elijah's gaze was so intense it was like his eyes were attempting to pierce my very soul. His eyes never left my face as he continued to move closer until he was right in front of me, close enough to touch. That was when shock #2 surfaced.

Elijah raised his hand, cupped my face and brushed his thumb against my cheekbone. Not so shocking, right? Except that I could feel it.

I, a ghost, could _feel_ his skin against mine.

It was impossible. I'd been incapable of making physical contact with _anything_, but now?

Today was just full of surprises.

Hesitantly, I raised my own hand and wrapped my fingers around his wrist, keeping his hand pressed to my face.

"Can you feel that?" I asked in a hushed voice.

He nodded.

Wow.

"Did you smash the window?"

I nodded.

"And the vase?"

"Yeah."

"And the coffee, did you knock that over?"

I scowled. "That was an accident! All of it was, really, but I was jealous!"

Elijah was smirking now. Apparently my envy amused him.

I let my hand drop from his wrist and pulled myself away from him. "It's not funny! I've been here for weeks. Just here! And no one can see me or hear me, it's infuriating and then I see you practically falling over yourself to spend time with _Eva_," I grimaced at the mere mention of her name, "Who, by the way, is an incredibly dull clone of me, I kind of snapped."

The smirk was still playing on his lips. I opened my mouth to call him out on it when he cut me off.

"I've missed you." he said, a demure smile replacing the smirk.

"You mean that Eva isn't enough for you?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

He chuckled. "She's actually a lot like you."

"She's _nothing _like me!" How insulting.

"She's very…innocent."

"I'm not innocent…"

"You used to be."

Urgh. I'm willing to bet that she's anything but innocent. Hasn't he realised that girls milk the whole innocent thing for all its worth until they have guys tied around their little fingers?

"You know that Klaus will kill her if he finds out?"

Elijah's expression hardened. "He won't find out."

"And if he does?"

"He won't."

"You know what will happen if he does. In fact, I'm kind of what Eva will look like if he does find out. Not that I'd mind if he kills her but whatever."

Elijah raised an eyebrow.

"Kidding."

"When did you acquire such a dark sense of humour?"

"Around about the time that your brother killed me."

Elijah smirked. _Oh_. He was so beautiful it hurt.

"So where's Klaus?" I asked, sitting back down on the bed. Elijah sat down next to me, never once taking his eyes off me. It was like he thought I was going to disappear at any given moment. Which, you know, I probably would.

"Spreading misery somewhere." he said vaguely, brushing a strand of hair from my face.

"No change there, then."

"None at all." He paused and let his hand fall back to his side. He seemed to be deciding whether or not to say something.

"Did it hurt when he…killed you?" He asked, finally, his gaze finding mine. He looked apprehensive, as though he was afraid at what I might say. I suppose that he thought it was his fault that Klaus killed me, because he was the one who took me to lure Klaus in, but Klaus would have killed me one way or another. He said it himself, he only wanted me because Elijah did. He would have killed me either way.

"Yes. Having your heart ripped through your back is by no means a pleasant experience."

His brow furrowed in distress and his hands curled into fists.

"But it was quick," I continued. "It was over before I could really wrap my head around it."

He looked away from me and started to fiddle with his cufflinks, deliberately avoiding my gaze.

"It wasn't your fault, Elijah."

"Wasn't it?"

"No. If anything it was mine. I knew exactly what Klaus was capable. I mean, he killed me once, didn't he? But I still chose to trust him, against my better judgement."

"I should have protected you."

"Well, make sure you don't make the same mistake with Eva," again I made the disgusted face at the mention of her name. In all honesty, I didn't care whether he protected her or not, I just wanted to bring the conversation back around to her so I could try and persuade him against seeing her again.

I'm a terrible person, I know.

I'm dead. I'm allowed to be a terrible person.


End file.
